The Rochester Clinical Research Curriculum (RCRC) is a collaborative effort between the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and Nursing, the Eastman Dental Center, and the University of Rochester Medical Center to develop a comprehensive plan for the training of physicians, doctorally prepared nurses, dentists, and PhD's in clinically relevant disciplines in clinical research. The curriculum is based on 17 learning objectives, each with a measurable educational outcome or acquired competency. The course of instruction is designed to complement and enhance the mentored research experience and to integrate knowledge and methods from the basic biomedical sciences into clinical research. The RCRC will develop a two year curriculum of didactic coursework, taking advantage of a number of courses already offered by individual departments and degree programs, but developing new ones specifically designed for the clinical researcher. A new degree, the Master in Public Health in Clinical Investigation, can be obtained by completion of didactic course requirements and a mentored research project. The RCRC will also create a series of skill-building workshops which will provide the trainee with state-of-the-art tools and skills such as the responsible and ethical conduct of research, scientific writing and presentation, relations with industry and technology transfer, and the writing of competitive research grant proposals. A weekly Clinical Research Seminar will be offered. The RCRC will develop a series of practical experiences for trainees to observe first-hand the conduct of clinical research by visits to clinical research facilities such as the Clinical Research Center and the Clinical Research Institute, and to visit five basic research programs in the Rochester Institute for Biomedical Sciences to identify ways to integrate the basic and clinical sciences. A Web-based Clinical Research Resource Inventory will be developed to assist trainees in accessing methods, populations, and databases. The program will recruit and select highly qualified trainees from the large number of training programs at the University, with an emphasis on trainees from under-represented minority groups. The RCRC will be assessed as to whether it has achieved its educational objectives, through evaluation of individual curricular components, the assessment of trainee core competencies and the longitudinal follow-up of trainee productivity. With completion of the RCRC, the trainee should have the theoretical, methodological, and practical knowledge and skills for a productive career in clinical research.